Well, as I’m sure most of you have already heard, the judge DISMISSED THE CASE!!! PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!! This is truly the best Christmas present I could get this year. Oh and of course having my son healed. That definately takes 1st place by far! We are so happy and thankful to be together this Christmas season. God is so good! For anyone out there that may doubt, here is the proof. We have seen His love, His mercy, His grace, His faithfulness, His goodness A LOT this past year. He has never failed us!

Here’s one of my favorite verses that I would read over and over again: “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:5,6

His word is TRUTH!! I am just giddy! 🙂 I don’t usually use that word, but that’s how I feel. There is certainly a lot of happiness in this house and thankfulness in our hearts. There have been so many things that have happened this year that shows just how much God has been by our sides. Blessings, constant blessings!

We are also so thankful for our lawyers, Paul Marin and Michael Farris. God certainly blessed us with both of them, but having Michael Farris on our side??? That is truly a God thing. That doesn’t just happen. No “coincidences” there. Michael is making great things happen with the help from our Lord Jesus Christ. Please support him and his causes: www.parentalrights.org It’s not just for some of us. It’s for ALL of us.

Again, thank you for all your prayers and support! We have appreciated every one of them. Please continue to pray as the State could appeal this. Only the Attorney General has the power to stop the appeal.

Yesterday, we had a motions hearing. It went pretty well. There were 3 motions that our judge was going over. The first was a motion that DHS filed that we should not be able to have character witnesses testify on our behalf. The judge ruled in our favor. PTL! Second, we filed a motion against DHS as they had 2 child abuse doctors on their witness list. We wanted them taken off as they have never seen or talked with us or Jacob before. Plus, this is not a child abuse case. The judge ruled in our favor. PTL! The last motion was a motion to dismiss the case all together. When the hearing first started, he said that he hadn’t quite made up his mind yet, but he would definitely rule at the end of the hearing. After listening to our wonderful lawyer, Michael Farris, state our case, the judge decided that he couldn’t make up his mind and that he would need to take the weekend to think about it. We feel that is a good thing and a step in the right direction. Overall, yesterday felt like a win and if he dismisses the case next week, it’ll be a VICTORY!

It was frustrating to listen to, however, as Jacob’s oncologist had filed an affidavit on Monday stating 3 things. First that Jacob DOES have cancer. Second, that he WILL die if he doesn’t get treatment. And third, that the treatment IS safe and effective. How can she say that Jacob does have cancer after 2 PET scans? She said that PET scans aren’t reliable. Ok…let’s play that game. What if Jacob did continue with treatment for 6 more months as they’re recommending? If the PET scan was clear then, then they would call it a victory and say he’s in remission. But since he has a PET scan after 3 months and it’s clear then he still has cancer? Plus she stated that he DID, not DOES, have cancer in her deposition – she actually corrected herself. Now she’s saying otherwise. Number 2: He will die? Since when is she God? No one knows when Jacob will die. Only God! Number 3: The chemo and radiation treatments are safe and effective? Really? Since when is putting chemical warfare in a childs body safe? Most of the chemo drugs they had Jacob on are not proven safe and effective by the FDA. The DHS lawyer stated yesterday at the hearing that basically it doesn’t matter what the FDA says. If the doctors want to give a drug to someone, they have every right to. WHAT???? And when is it okay for a doctor to lie under oath in her deposition and in an affidavit? And contradicting herself?

Without a doubt, we have God on our side and He is certainly looking out for us. He remains faithful through all of this – never failing!

I will let you all know what I find out next week. Thanks again for your prayers and for those who have signed the petition. You can also follow us on Hope for Jacob on FB. Please continue to pray for the dismissal next week!

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:5,6

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven’t been keeping up on this as much as I thought I would. Normally, this is a very busy time for everyone with Christmas and all, but adding this trial to it just makes things insane.

Let see……..I never got back to you all after the motions hearing on November 30th. I guess I didn’t take the time because there was nothing to report. They were supposed to go over some of the motions that were filed, but the “other side” wasn’t prepared. It ‘s getting quite ridiculous! They’ve been investigating us since July. Filed the petition in September and THEY’RE not ready? Oh, and I forgot to mention that one of the reasons that the trial was asked to be moved to January is because “it’s not fair” that it was 2 against 1. As in Ken and I having 2 lawyers to their one. Pathetic! Oh well! I guess this all just makes them look worse and worse.

Thank you everyone for your OVERWHELMING support over the past couple of weeks. Just truly AMAZING! We went from 300 likes on the Hope For Jacob FB page, to over 800 as of this morning!!! Also, thank you for all the encouraging messages. What faithful and wonderful supporters we have.

For those of you that live in or near Marquette County and can be at the courthouse to support us next week – the 15th, we would greatly appreciate it. The judge will be going over the motion to dismiss the case. Hopefully he’ll see all the support we have and realize just how crazy this case is. It will be held at 1:30 in the original courthouse at the top of the marble staircase.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers! We know God has BIG plans for us and we are excited to find out what they are. I do feel blessed that God is using us. I don’t know why He picked us, but I feel blessed. 🙂

Our trial date has been changed to January 10-13, 2012. It’s a long story and frankly quite ridiculous, but I probably shouldn’t get into that here. Let’s just say, the other side asked for it. I know that there is good and bad that comes with it, but we really just wanted to be done with it for Christmas. Not to mention that people, including my husband, took time off of work to be there or to testify. It’s really quite maddening! We just have to remember that God is in control and if this is His will, then so be it. I know we don’t always understand His plan, but we still need to trust Him and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

In the meantime, Jacob is doing really well! He had a check-up last week and his doctor said he was doing really well. He said that if he didn’t know of any of his past health issues, he would never know. He was quite impressed! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Just the 4 of us. Quiet, but nice. We then headed over to our friends after dinner for a nice visit. Sunday we got our Christmas tree after church. We love this time of year and are going to try to make the most of it. We’re together and healthy – that’s what matters! We are also enjoying our time with the new member of our family, Katy. She’s a sweet little pug – thanks to Becky and Gary from bgenglishbulldogs.com. They blessed us with her and we are so happy! She has quite the personality. Jacob and Caleb just enjoy her so much. We all do!

I will definately do my best to keep you all updated. There is a hearing this Wednesday to go over a few motions and another on December 15th. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for God’s will to be done. We appreciate all of your support!

Well, things have certainly been a little crazy lately. You do one t.v. news interview and it spreads like wildfire! I’ve been told that it’s been on several different t.v. stations downstate and as far as California. It’s been on the radio and several newspapers as far as the U.K. We were also invited to be on a popular talk show in New York. We turned that down. Not really wanting to jump on a plane and add to all the stress that’s already present. One thing is for certain, we musn’t get too caught up in all that is going on around us and forget to continue to rely on God. To continue praying and spending time with Him each and every day – throughout the day. And let’s not forget to praise him and thank Him for all that He has done. He continues to amaze us with His blessings and protection on this family. We give Him all the glory!!!

We are so thankful for all the support we have gotten. Yes, some of the feedback has been negative, but thankfully most of it has been positive. Whether you agree with chemo and radiation, this boils down to parental rights. It’s what this is really all about! We should have the choice of what type of medical treatment our children have and how much. Period.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers! I will try to do my best to keep everyone updated as things progress.

Thank you to everyone who is taking this seriously, showing your support and taking a stand for our rights. This is a very BIG DEAL!!! This is not just about medical freedom, it’s about having rights as parents to be able to make decisions for our children as we see fit. Continue reading “Thursday, October 27th” »

Hello everyone! I’ve had several people ask me about giving or Case # or File # so that when you contact our Governor, Senators, Congressmen, etc. you could state that in the email or phone call to validate the story. It is as follows:

File or Case No. 11-9410-NA Jacob Stieler

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers! We really appreciate it!

When does the State of Michigan have the right to interfere with decisions made by parents concerning the care of their children? This is the question that will be answered in a jury trial on December 6-7 at the County Court. Our son, 10-year-old Jacob Stieler has had two clear PET scans in the past 4 months meaning there is no evidence of cancer in Jacob’s body, yet still the Department of Human Services is being pressured by a large children’s hospital in lower Michigan to force him to undergo 6 more months and several weeks of radiation treatments just because this is the “standard of care” protocol, based on studies that have been done on other children, not Jacob. After going through 2 ½ months of watching Jacob suffer physically and emotionally from his chemo treatments, we were so very grateful to get the results of his PET scan in July which showed no evidence of the cancer which could not be surgically removed in March. Despite all of our efforts to support his body through treatment, he still lost 14 pounds, and looked like a concentration camp victim after those 2 ½ months. Now, after receiving some non-traditional therapies to help him regain his lost weight and build up his immune system, Jacob looks like a normal healthy young boy, and is ever so glad to be finished with chemo. Should Jacob’s cancer return, we, as his parents, will want to be able to choose where to go for treatment, and what kind of treatment we believe will be best for our child. Except in cases where parents are proven to be unfit, abusive, or neglectful, the State has never been given the right to make these choices, and never should be. If we do not retain this right as Jacob’s parents, and the ones who have been given the responsibility by God to care for him, what will keep the State from interfering on any number of choices that we parents make concerning the care of our children, medical or otherwise?

According to Jacob’s doctors, 30% of the children who follow their treatment plan are not alive in five years. Is this because of the damage caused by these very toxic drugs, which can even cause healthy, normal cells to become cancerous? We have not been given answers to these questions. There don’t seem to be any answers. Unbiased studies have not been done. We hope that in December the jury will remember that it is our right as parents to make any difficult medical decisions for Jacob, this beautiful son that we love far more than the State of Michigan ever could.

**Help us keep our rights as parents over our healthy child, Jacob. Let our Michigan Governor Rick Snyder know that you are concerned this case could ruin parents rights to decide for their children’s well-being all over the nation. If they can threaten to take our child, where will they stop?

First of all, I’m not even sure if anyone will be reading this or not. I apologize that I haven’t written in about 3 months and kind of left everyone hanging. I was instructed to lay-off for awhile, but not anymore…..

First things first, Jacob is doing wonderful! He is happy and healthy, going to school full time and loving life!!! 🙂 He turned 10 years old a couple weeks ago and was able to go bow-hunting October 1st. He shot a 6-pt. buck and was ecstatic!! I’ve been hunting for years and never got one. He certainly deserves it though. 🙂

In the meantime, we’ve been checked-up on by CPS for the past 3 months. “Just doin’ their job” while the case is still open. It wasn’t going anywhere….CPS couldn’t find a reason for medical neglect like the hospital was claiming and either could the prosecuting attorney. That sure didn’t stop the hospital from whining and got another big children’s hospital involved to complain, which is also downstate (I’m not supposed to mention names, but I’m sure you can all figure it out). Doctors from both hospitals acted very irrational and immature because apparently everyone up here “is incompetent – they don’t know how to handle a case such as this”. Well, DHS ended up filing a petition. We have been to court a few times. Crazy things keep happening to keep it from going further. We’re already on our second judge.

Yesterday we went to court again. Had a useless meeting first and then the lawyers met with the new judge. There is now an actual trial set for the first week of December. There will be a jury. This trial is for two things. First, they are still pushing to have Jacob have 6 more months of chemotherapy and 2 months of radiation. Two of the chemotherapy drugs that he was on and would be on are mustard gas – yes, chemical warfare. Another one is nicknamed “red death” and can potentially cause major heart damage. Another has chloroform in it and the other two are just as capable of causing cancer. Yes…it’s all POISON! And I’m sure most of you know how horrible radiation is. Oh, and did I forget to mention again that Jacob is CANCER-FREE!!!! Yes, he had another PET Scan a few weeks ago and still NO CANCER! They truly believe that poisoning my child is the best thing for his health. It doesn’t matter that we have doctors currently keeping any eye on him. It doesn’t matter that he’s had a lifestyle change and we’re doing multiple things to keep him healthy. It doesn’t matter that we’re going to keep getting PET Scans done every 3 months. It doesn’t matter that we would certainly get him into treatment the moment one of those scans came up showing cancer. They’re not happy with that answer. Is it because they’re not getting their $60,000 a month? And that’s not counting radiation.

Okay…now let’s talk about the other side to this story. Another reason for this whole trial is the fact that they’re trying to set an example with us – to not question the doctors or the state, for that matter. We’re all just basically “foster-parents” to our children. The state actually owns them and they have a right to decide what’s best for our kids. We, as parents, do not! I hope you are all as outraged at this as we are!!! What happened to our rights?? This is certainly not a free country that we’re all fooled into believing. Doesn’t the 14th amendment mean anything??

If this makes you furious, please let us know! Let Governor Snyder know. Let our Senator and State Reps know. Let DHS know. We need to stand up for our rights as parents that we know what’s best for our children and that we should ultimately have the right to decide what’s best. Not some strangers who don’t know a thing about our children or us for that matter.

As bizarre as this whole situation is, and believe me – you don’t even know half of it, we’re trusting God! We know this is all happening for a reason. Not quite sure what it is yet, but God has a plan. He cares about Jacob. He loves him more than we do. God has been taking care of us this whole time since day one back in March. He keeps on blessing us in so many ways and we are so thankful! He is truly an awesome God!!! Please continue to pray for us, for this whole situation. That the truth would be revealed. That God’s will would be done! Also, please continue to pray for Jacob, that he would continue to stay cancer-free and that he would get stronger each and every day.

Thanks for everyone’s support over the past several months! You all are amazing! 🙂

Committ everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:5-6